Odhikar Annual Human Rights Report 2014

The human rights situation in Bangladesh has been of increasing concern over the past few years, as outlined by Odhikar’s annual Human Rights Report 2014.

This informative report outlines the severe lack of accountability for human rights violations, particularly those committed by government actors, the government’s ongoing crackdown on civil society, and an alarming level of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings, fuelled by a dysfunctional justice system.

The report also describes how the Bangladesh government uses several means to harass, intimidate, and persecute human rights defenders. The entry into force of the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act (2014) further impedes the functioning of NGOs by regulating their registration and any foreign funding that they may receive. The report also outlines how freedom of expression has come under fire in the name of public order and the protection of religious sentiment, and how freedoms of assembly and of association are regularly curtailed under the pretext of security.